A box contains 12 identical balls of which 5 are red, 4 blue, and the rest are green. If two balls are selected at random one after the other with replaceme...
A box contains 12 identical balls of which 5 are red, 4 blue, and the rest are green. If two balls are selected at random one after the other with replacement, what is the probability that both are red?
Answer Details
There are 12 balls in the box, 5 of which are red, 4 blue, and the remaining ones are green. If we select a ball at random, the probability of selecting a red ball is 5/12, since there are 5 red balls out of 12 total. If we replace the ball and select again, the probability of selecting a red ball is still 5/12, since we put back the ball we selected and the number of red balls remains the same.
To find the probability of selecting two red balls in a row, we need to multiply the probability of selecting a red ball on the first draw (5/12) by the probability of selecting a red ball on the second draw (also 5/12), since the events are independent.
Therefore, the probability of selecting two red balls in a row with replacement is (5/12) x (5/12) = 25/144.
Hence, the correct option is (A) \(\frac{25}{144}\).